03-07-2012 13:50 Mp3 Mars, Energy, & Mind Uploads: On Monday’s show, aerospace and defense systems developer Sir Charles Shults discussed his work with alternative energy sources, the discovery of new extrasolar planets, the new rover which will land soon on Mars, and the concept of mind uploading into virtual worlds which could lead to a form of immortality. The Curiosity rover is scheduled to arrive on Mars on August 5th– it’s a larger vehicle than the previous rovers, and has advanced testing and photographic equipment. It’s due to land in Gale Crater– an area where water would have been present over a great period of time, and Shults believes there is a high probability that fossils of primitive life may be found there. (Check out our Insta-Poll on whether you believe there’s current or past life on Mars.) There may be some simple ways to develop interstellar travel, Shults declared. One possibility is a reactionless thruster, which could be thought of as a quantum mechanics device “that could produce thrust in one direction without throwing exhaust out the other side,” he explained. Regarding energy, he’d like to see the end of burning petroleum for fuel, and one development he expressed enthusiasm for is a new type of fuel cell that can also act as a kind of battery. By 2025, Shults foresees the ability for people to upload the contents of their brain, or back-up their memories to a computer. This capability could prove highly useful if someone suffered a brain …

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